Athletics News

Ruben Mendoza, coordinator of strength
and conditioning the last four years at the University of
Mississippi, has been named the University of Notre Dame's strength
and conditioning coordinator.

Mendoza replaces Mickey Marotti, who served in that role at Notre
Dame from 1998 until resigning last week to accept a similar position
at the University of Florida.

At Ole Miss, Mendoza spent four years overseeing a Rebel strength
staff that featured four full-time assistants and three graduate
assistants dealing with 500 student-athletes and 18 varsity sports.
Ole Miss saw its original 10,000-square foot weight room supplemented
in September by a new 10,000-square foot facility devoted to
football. Those two areas combined with Mendoza and his staff to
provide Ole Miss with one of the top programs of its kind in the
country.

Mendoza had been assistant director of strength, speed and
conditioning for four years at Clemson University before taking over
at Ole Miss in January of 2001. His football responsibilities at
Clemson included implementation of in-season strength and
conditioning programs, assistant coordinator of winter conditioning
as well as a speed development program, testing and monitoring all
progress in strength, flexibility and cardiovascular fitness, and
educating student-athletes on nutritional factors, including
supplementation that affect health and performance.

General responsibilities at Clemson dealt with supervising the
development of strength and aerobic fitness for 19 varsity sports
through the use of sports-specific training programs. Mendoza managed
the 14,000-square foot facility and day-to-day operations, worked
closely with the Clemson head trainer in coordinating rehabilitation
programs for injured athletes, and provided supervision and developed
time schedules for varsity sports for use of athletic weight
facilities.

Prior to joining the Clemson staff in June of 1997, Mendoza served as
head strength and conditioning coordinator at the University of
Tennessee-Chattanooga from January '93 to April '97. He was the
defensive line coach/assistant strength and conditioning coach at
Presbyterian College during the 1992 season and served as graduate
assistant strength and conditioning coach at the University of South
Carolina from June 1990 to February 1992.

A Kodak All-America offensive lineman in 1985 while playing at Wayne
State (Neb.), Mendoza also earned NAIA All-America and CSIC
all-conference first-team honors, and was a team captain. He earned
his Bachelor of Science degree from Wayne State in 1989 and took
graduate-level coursework in education at South Carolina.
He spent three seasons in the National Football League as an
offensive guard, playing for the Green Bay Packers (1986), Miami
Dolphins ('87) and Phoenix Cardinals ('88).

A Crystal City, Texas, native, Mendoza is married to the former
Kristen Prososki of Omaha, Neb. They have four children -- Nicholas,
Emmanuel, Grace and Gabriel.